


blood on the crown (take it)

by Anonymous



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Bad boys squared AU, Confessions, M/M, WAVE aesthetic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22613869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: seonghwa has always found it a little terrifying to be honest, until he realizes it’s what he needs to be in order to keep hongjoong.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 13
Kudos: 229
Collections: Anonymous





	blood on the crown (take it)

Hongjoong does one of his lazy eye rolls as he says, “You know you can drop the bratty act now, right?” 

Confused, Seonghwa blinks innocently as he watches Hongjoong pull on a thin henley sweater, effectively covering up the intricate illustrative tattoos adorning both of his arms from his shoulders to his wrists. It’s a shame that Hongjoong almost always wears long sleeves, since the tattoos are so pretty, but Seonghwa also feels special for being one of the few people to see Hongjoong’s inked, bare skin on a regular basis. “What do you mean?” 

“The excuses you come up with so that I’ll spend time with you. The remarks that you don’t really mean but say anyways because you want to get a rise out of me. The photos you’ll post of you hanging out with girls when I haven’t replied to your messages in a few hours,” Hongjoong says, and Seonghwa rolls his lower lip under his teeth before he runs a hand through his hair. The ends are a little dry from the bleach job he’d gotten done in order to achieve the dirty blonde color, but beauty, whether obtained naturally or by force, tends to come hand in hand with sacrifice. 

“I think you’re being too conscious of me, Hongjoong,” Seonghwa says, voice honey sweet. Deflecting is easy, in order to maintain the peace of the status quo. “I’m not doing anything on purpose to try and bug you.”

After pushing Seonghwa’s blanketed legs out of the way, Hongjoong sits down on the bed, a little too far for Seonghwa’s liking. He lets his eyes rake over Seonghwa’s naked torso slow enough that Seonghwa can’t miss it, but he makes no move to touch, and Seonghwa feels like Hongjoong’s purposely chosen to create this uneasy distance between them to prove a point. 

“You’re sure about that answer?” Hongjoong doesn’t look convinced, which makes sense, considering even Seonghwa isn’t convinced by his own words, thrown off by the rhythm of a song he hadn’t expected Hongjoong to play this soon or at all. “If that’s the case, then we should stop whatever we’ve been doing, these few months.” 

Seonghwa’s brows furrow before he can control himself, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Hongjoong. 

_Whatever we’ve been doing_ means the cuddling, the making out that often results in hickeys, the fucking that always leaves Seonghwa wondering what he’s gotten himself into by trying to conquer a boy as strong willed and independent as Hongjoong, whose kisses leave Seonghwa gasping for air and remind him that it’s actually Hongjoong who’s holding the puppet strings to make Seonghwa do as he pleases, instead of it being the other way around. 

_Whatever we’ve been doing_ also means the dinner dates that Seonghwa has started to look forward to as the only good part of every new week, the way Hongjoong tolerates Seonghwa crawling into his lap when he’s studying even if it’s inconvenient, the meaningful looks from Hongjoong Seonghwa secretly preens at but never directly acknowledges because he’s reluctant to think about what it means for them in the long run. 

It’s so scary for Seonghwa, to admit that he’s gotten attached to Hongjoong when the foundation of his relationships with people have always been established as temporary, and Seonghwa isn’t used to keeping people forever, so it terrifies him even more that he wants that from Hongjoong yet he has no definitive way of obtaining it. He’s not sure why Hongjoong is bringing this up now, because they’re getting along just fine even if Seonghwa manipulates their narrative into something less serious than it actually is, and sometimes it’s easier to leave difficult words unsaid when there’s a possibility that the response might be one Seonghwa doesn’t want to hear. 

“Why?” Seonghwa asks, quietly. “Why do you want to stop when you never had a problem before?” 

“Because I want you to be able to ask for my time or affection without feeling like you need to mask it under something else,” Hongjoong says. His voice wavers ever so slightly, and Seonghwa can feel his heart swell up double its size inside his chest. Hongjoong is usually as fiery and outspoken as his bright red hair, but in this moment, he’s also soft and vulnerable and scared, just like Seonghwa. “Because I want to become a choice that you make again and again, rather than just one of many convenient options by your side.” 

Hongjoong is a choice. Not only that, he’s been Seonghwa’s first choice for a long, long time, because Seonghwa has a horridly short attention span and yet he can spend entire days thinking about how Hongjoong makes him feel complete, like Seonghwa is enough as he is even when other people think there’s no depth to his personality. Seonghwa might hang out with other people to fill the emptiness that lingers in him whenever he’s not getting the attention he wants from Hongjoong, but Hongjoong is the one who Seonghwa comes home to emotionally. 

Compared to the murky waters Seonghwa has slept underneath the surface of for years, Hongjoong is a breath of clean, fresh air, but all of the crucial words are stubbornly stuck in his throat, and even when Seonghwa finally feels like he’s caught his breath, he can only utter out, “...Hongjoong?”

“Because I don’t know who else you’re smiling at and crowning as your favorite all the other days of the week,” Hongjoong continues. “The innocent lamb act might work on other people, Seonghwa, but we both know that everything you do is intentional to an extent, and I don’t want to keep playing games with you if you don’t have any intention of keeping me. I’m… tired.” 

“Then I won’t play games anymore,” Seonghwa says, voice a little too loud and squeaky in his desperation to keep Hongjoong. In front of anyone else, he’d worry about messing up his image, but all he’s paying attention to right now is the way Hongjoong’s eyes widen before they narrow again, thoughtfully, as he realizes Seonghwa has kicked down all of his own walls in order to be honest for the first time. 

“You mean that, Seonghwa?” Hongjoong asks, like he’s afraid to get his hopes up too high. “Because I’m not gonna play nice and let you go, even if you change your mind.” 

“I don’t care whether you play nice or mean as long as you keep me,” Seonghwa says, and Hongjoong breathes out a laugh of relief.

And now, Hongjoong is the one to crawl closer until he’s practically in Seonghwa’s lap, thumbing at Seonghwa’s nipple while leaving wet kisses along Seonghwa’s jaw to make sure Seonghwa fully understands whose grasp he’s fallen into. Despite all the dangers Hongjoong seems to present, Seonghwa knows he’s in safe hands, and he simply closes his eyes as he gives in to the man who’s equally kind as he is ruthless, because he knows Hongjoong won’t ever let him fall. 


End file.
